I am strongly considering a raw diet for my bulldog he has had several bouts of problems with pooping since we got him at 10 weeks old, he's 6 months now. His last bout was diagnosed as acute colitis and that has what has made me think raw might be better than the bulldog junior kibble he is on at the moment.
I am a little unsure exactly what meats you can feed safely. For example can they have raw turkey because I've heard turkey meat (maybe it only applies to cooked) is bad for their pancreas?
Can you feed them a raw chicken leg (without skin) with the bone in?
I'm also very unsure of what a meal should consist of, should there be vegetables and/or something like pasta or rice included?
Sorry I seem so clueless but I want to get this right so we don't over or underfeed our bully.
Your dog is 6 months old. Old enough to take raw. The guideline ratio is 80:10:10 or 75:15:10 of meat : bone : organ
Amount to feed is 2-3% of expected adult body weight per day (split over 2-3 meals)
Start out simple. Chicken is a good protein to start with.
Feed chicken back/breast/neck with bone (large enough pieces to discourage gulping). After the pup figures it out, introduce legs.
I would not give legs unsupervised till about a year. EBs are greedy and gulp food.
You can however hand hold the leg and encourage your pup to tear meat and chew bone.
Introduce organs (liver/heart/etc) slowly; these usually cause runny stools the first few times.
With skin chicken is good once in a while (once a week at most). Most of the fat resides beneath the skin.
3-5 boiled eggs a week is good for your dog, as long as it can handle it.
After your pup stabilizes on chicken, try turkey, beef, lamb or any other meat that you can procure from a trusted source.
Follow the same regimen, except no beef/lamb bones. They are way too hard for dogs and EBs in particular; will break teeth and choking hazard.
Rice/pasta/veggies/fruits are optional. I do feed these occasionally.
The trick is not to feed with the meal which contains raw meat. Plant matter takes longer to digest than animal products.
I feed veggies/fruits as a side snack. Mostly given because of the drooling dogs. The moment I reach out for a banana or apple or orange, my mutts are in front of me drooling.
So they get a small amount.
Rice and pasta need to be cooked well; in fact overcooked is better than under cooked. With rice I usually give yogurt. Pasta is plain; no sauce; sometimes with watered down milk.
These are usually a meal without any meat/eggs in it and most often at dinner. Gives a longer time for digestion.
Cheers,
Raghu
